


pass it on

by louieezus



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: AU, M/M, mass chinese whispers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-21
Updated: 2015-05-21
Packaged: 2018-03-31 15:17:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3982915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/louieezus/pseuds/louieezus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>an au where louis' really glad that he was persuaded to join in on a mass chinese whispers</p>
            </blockquote>





	pass it on

**Author's Note:**

> ok so this is a really random au based off a video they showed us in assembly once
> 
>  
> 
> enjoy

Louis really wasn’t sure how he had been roped into this. When a guy had come to him on the street asking him if he wanted to participate in a huge Chinese whispers for a telecoms advert, he had tried his hardest to say no. He usually didn’t have any problem speaking his mind, but he’d already had a hard day at work and he really wasn’t up for an argument. Then again, he also really wasn’t up for a giant game of Chinese whispers in the freezing cold.

Somehow he had ended up near the front of the line, which would hopefully mean he’d be able to get away quickly (though, when he thought about it, it probably just meant more waiting around). Louis focused intently on his shoes in an attempt to ignore the chattering groups of girls and bored boyfriends _(“Come on babe, it’ll be fun!”)_ around him. He was sure he’d already been standing there for at least five minutes when an excited, but contrastingly deep, voice piped up next to him, “Kind of exciting, isn’t it? We’re going to be on TV!”

Louis averted his gaze from the incredibly interesting cobbled street floor to the friendly stranger standing next to him. What he had not been expecting to see was hands-down the most handsome man he had ever laid eyes upon. Louis’ breath caught on whatever he had been about to say as his eyes shifted from his chiselled jaw and temples, to his deep green eyes, to his overgrown curls and then to his lips. They were obscenely pink and Louis had an uncharacteristic desire to smash them against his own.

He collected himself, coughing, and replied, “Yes, well, not exactly how I was planning my leap to superstardom.”

The boy, _man,_ grinned and held out his hand, “I’m Harry. Styles.”

“Harry Styles?” Louis’ mouth was dry, but he hoped he was playing it cool, “Suppose you’re already famous with a name like that?”

“Yeah, most famous buns in all of Manchester,” He winked.

Louis’ eyes widened.

“Your face! Oh god, I’m sorry, but that was hilarious! I’m a baker. Butterfly Bakery?” He chuckled.

“Butterfly Bakery? That’s you? Oh man, those are my _favourite_ doughnuts.” Louis smiled to the sky; he couldn’t believe that the hottest guy he’d ever seen also baked the best doughnuts he’d ever tasted.

Harry beamed, eyes twinkling, and said, “Hey, thanks man.”

“No problem. If I ever pop in, you can give me one for free as thanks.”

“Alright, everyone, listen up! The cameras are going to get rolling on you all in a minute and I’m going to give the message to the first person, so please try to stay as still and quiet as possible until the message reaches you. Let’s go!” The man with a megaphone gave the thumbs up to the cameramen, leaned over to whisper the message in the first girl’s ear.

Harry gave Louis an excited smile, and bounced up and down on his heels until the message reached him. Suddenly Harry’s hot breath was on Louis’ cold ear and whispering, “I think you’re really hot.”

Louis was beginning to think he might have to start channelling his mind towards naked grandmas quite soon if he didn’t want to be very much embarrassed. He swallowed, quickly slapping Harry’s thigh so as not to slow down the game: there was no way he could pass _that_ on.

“Fine,” came Harry’s voice again, “the most important thing in communication is hearing what isn’t said.”

Louis shuddered again at the deep voice in his ear, before passing the message on the young girl beside him. He stood rigid for the rest of the game, refusing to look in Harry’s direction until he could talk with him. He was fairly sure the final response had come out as something about tomatoes, but by the time they’d finished and the telecoms guy had done his bit of advertising, Louis was beyond paying attention.

He cleared his throat, “So, uh, might’ve been a bit awkward if I’d passed that on to the sixteen-year-old girl next to me.

Harry smiled, “Oh yeah, sorry, hadn’t thought about that. I don’t know what came over me.”

Louis narrowed his eyes; he wasn’t sure he should believe anything this boy was saying, but he was pretty sure he was going to believe _everything._

“So, uh, do you fancy getting some overpriced coffee with me?” Harry looked suddenly shy, paying with his jacket sleeves, “Or not, actually, I know this great little place just over there and it’s not even a Starbucks -”

“Sure. As long as it’s not too hipster, Harry Styles.” Louis smirked.

Harry’s flustered face relaxed, and he fell into step with Louis, stride overtaking his by far. They walked in comfortable silence, before Harry directed Louis into a barely-noticeable café (Louis didn’t forget to notice the way Harry held the door open). Harry took Louis’ coat to hang up with his own while Louis settled into a booth in the back corner of the café. He took in his surroundings: wooden walls, artsy photos, kind of Alpine-chalet-like…yeah, definitely too hipster.

“Bit warmer in here, huh?” Harry slid into the booth opposite Louis. He’d only just noticed Harry’s ridiculous attire; he had been wearing only a thin suede jacket over a silky-looking shirt which exposed half his torso (not that Louis was complaining).

“Well, you might expect to get a bit chilly in February when you’re wearing that.” Louis shot back, removing his gloves and beanie.

“Are you insulting my fashion choices?” Harry mocked hurt.

“No, just judging them.” Louis smiled.

“And what’s the verdict, Sir…oh my god, I don’t even know your name yet!” Harry’s mouth fell open.

“Oh, shit! Sorry, it’s Louis. Louis Tomlinson. And, about your fashion choices, I very much approve. Even if they’re not weather appropriate.”

Harry had a look on his that Louis couldn’t quite decipher when he said quietly, “Thank you, Louis Tomlinson.”

Louis felt fifteen years old again when he knocked his foot into Harry’s and blushed.

“Uh, the carrot cake here’s really good, wanna share a slice?” Harry coughed, handing Louis a menu.

“Ugh, I should’ve known you’d be the kind of person who eats cake made of vegetables. And not even a whole slice!”

“Oh, you can have your own if you want, I was just -”

“Haz, it’s fine, really. I’d love to share some vegetable cake with you.” The nickname had slipped out of Louis’ mouth, but it sounded _so good_ on him.

Harry smiled bashfully as a young blonde barista came up to them, “What can I get you two? Oh, hey, Harry.”

“Hi, Ellie - can I get the usual hot chocolate and a carrot cake to share, please?”

“Sure, babe, what about you, then?” The smiley girl turned to Louis.

“Oh, I’ll just have a cuppa, actually.” Louis replied.

“Great, thanks, guys.” She grabbed the menus and turned away with a flick of her ponytail.

“Trust neither of us to end up _actually_ getting coffee.” Louis grinned.

“Yeah, don’t really like it much.” Harry admitted.

“And I can’t have it after three in the afternoon. So, do you bring a lot of random strangers here?” Louis asked, remembering the close way Harry and Ellie interacted.

“Nah, just used to come here to study a lot when I was at Uni.”

“Oh, what did you take?” Louis found that small talk with Harry didn’t really feel like small talk, and that he was genuinely interested in what he had to say.

“Modern World History and PPE. And then I loved it here so much that I decided to stay.”

“History and PPE, then you became a baker?” Louis was bemused.

“Yeah, don’t get me wrong, I loved it and I’ve got my degree, but I used to work in a bakery at home, and I loved it more. So I thought, why not set up my own bakery here?”

“So where’s home? Tell me everything.” Louis leaned forward on his hands.

“Okay, as long as you promise to tell me about you afterwards.”

Louis nodded.

“I lived in Holmes Chapel in Cheshire, then I came here when I was nineteen, did three years at Uni whilst working at Lush, then set up the bakery using the money I’d saved and a _lot_ of loans from my parents. Well, my mum and Robin. My dad paid for Uni, so it wouldn’t have been fair. Uh, I have a sister, Gemma, and that’s about me.”

“Hot chocolate with everything, Builders’ and carrot cake!” Ellie announced, placing the tray down on the table.

“Thanks love,” Harry smiled, taking his incredible-looking hot chocolate off the tray.

“No problem, H, just don’t bore him with your whole life story.” Ellie left Harry and Louis alone again.

Harry pouted.

“Don’t worry, you weren’t boring me. Anyway, I made a promise, so…I’m from Doncaster, as you might be able to tell, so you’re a right posh lad from Cheshire, I’ve got four sisters and two brothers -”

“Wow.”

“Yeah, as you can see, I’ve taken the mature older brother role very seriously.”

Harry giggled, offering Louis a fork and digging into the carrot cake. Louis reluctantly took a bite, but was shocked by what he tasted.

“Oh my god, Harry, this is amazing!”

“I know, right?” Harry smiled, mouth still full.

“No, seriously, how can they put _carrots_ in a cake and still make it taste like this?!” He threw his head back, laughing.

After at least another hour, they were still sitting there, hands laced together (it felt like electricity, Louis noted), and they probably would have been kicked out already had it not been for Harry’s friendship with Ellie. They were laughing about god knows what, eventually stumbling out into the cold as though they had been drinking, Louis’ prized beanie perched happily on Harry’s head, and Louis was incredibly grateful for the telecoms guy who had managed to persuade him to take part in a massive Chinese whispers.

 

 

And six months later, when a man in a suit came up to them as they were sock shopping for Harry’s dads birthday and asked them if they would join in on a mass survey, Louis grabbed Harry’s hand and pulled him to the event, a grin painted on his face the whole time.

**Author's Note:**

> oookkk little fic i hope you liked it. as i said creds to a bt advert that i saw lol
> 
> pls leave kudos and comments if you enjoyed it :)))
> 
> shameless self promo, you can check out my main fic (since we were eighteen) if you want
> 
> tumblr: louieezus
> 
> xoxo


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